(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus showing graphical interactive screens for remote control, and to the peripheral units.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The use of remote controllers has spread to facilitate the manipulation of today""s household appliances such as audio-visual apparatuses, and one remote controller is furnished for one appliance in general. However, it is quite cumbersome to manage a plurality of remote controllers.
In addition, a remote controller in a broad sense, or a display on the screen that enables the users to make a variety of selections, was developed and has been in practical use for the interactive TV (television) system and TV game players. However, this type of remote controller also faces problems such as facilitating manipulation and saving manufacturing cost.
To eliminate the above problems, a multi-remote controller, or otherwise known as a system remote controller, was developed and has been commercially available. The multi-remote controller includes a transmitter that controls a plurality of appliances of various types in one kind (for example, TVs made by a plurality of makers), or various kinds of appliances (for example, TV and VTR (video tape recorder)), so that the user can control a plurality of appliances with one multi-remote controller by selecting the appliance he wishes to control. Alternately, the multi-remote controller may include the buttons necessary for the manipulation of all the appliances. However, in either case, the user must select a desired appliance first, meaning that the multi-remote controller must include the selection button.
To compensate the drawback of the multi-remote controller, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-180497 discloses a remote controller comprising a remote control unit for transmitting remote control signals for a plurality of appliances to be controlled, and receiver units furnished with each appliance for receiving the remote controller signals for their respective appliances. Note that each receiver unit transmits a unique signal to the remote controller unit, so that the receiver unit stores data as to which control signal should be transmitted to which appliance, eliminating the appliance selection process and hence the selection button.
However, this remote controller is available only to the predetermined appliances and functions, and it must include a ultra red ray signal transmitter and buttons for each predetermined function. Thus, although the selection button can be omitted, the remote controller still includes a large number of buttons if it controls more than one kind of appliance (for example, TV and VTR), because the buttons for channel selection and volume adjustment for the TV receiver, and those for playback and record functions for the VTR must be furnished separately. Further, the design of the remote controller can not be changed flexibly, and unnecessary buttons under a particular situation are still furnished and the control signals for such buttons are stored in the memory as well. Thus, neither the design is adequate nor the memory is utilized efficiently, complicating the manipulation of the remote controller more than necessary.
Also, a TV-VTR compound apparatus, which is controlled by menu information defined in advance, has been developed However, it is impossible to control a plurality of appliances as an integral system; for the menu information varies depending on the state of each appliance, such as interconnection and power ON/OFF.
Further, a menu processing method, disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-233660, was developed. This method enables the retrieval of a desired application program by switching the menu displays regardless of which terminal or host computer stores the application program in a computer environment where a plurality of terminals are interconnected via a network.
However, the information as to which terminal or host computer stores the secondary and subsequent order menus must be written into each item in the menu in advance. Thus, it is impossible to control a plurality of appliances as an integral system; for the menu information varies depending on the state of each appliance, such as interconnection and power ON/OFF.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-172086 discloses a program receiver which can display texts and graphics for the operation manual or guidance of the CATV (Cable TV) system, either related or unrelated to the program being broadcasted, on the screen. This will be explained more in detail while referring to FIG. 1 depicting the structure of the program receiver. A terminal 101 includes a character generator 103 for generating texts and graphics displayed on a screen 102, a memory 104 storing all the patterns for the texts and graphics transmitted from a head-end of the CATV station in advance, a switcher 107 for inputting signals from the character generator 103 or memory 104 into a TV receiver 106 instead of or together with the outputs from a tuner 105. The text and graphical information, or namely the operation manual or guidance and the information either related or unrelated to the program being broadcasted, is transmitted from the head end in advance to upgrade the utility of the CATV system.
In this system, program distributors supply the interactive screen generation information for each program to the CATV station in advance, so that the information is transmitted from the head-end to the memory 104 each time a program is switched, supplying an adequate interactive screen for each program. However, this complicates the re-transmission of the program. As well, each time the user switches a channel, the head-end detects the switching and transmits the interactive screen generation information for the switched program to the memory 104, making the process at the head-end cumbersome.
In addition, a technique such that enables the user to set the functions of the VTR and TV game players by using the display on the TV receiver was developed. The household appliances of this type include a circuit for generating a user interface screen, and a terminal for outputting image signals generated by the circuit to an external appliances. The external output terminal is connected to an external image signal input terminal of the TV receiver via an image signal cable to switch TV receiver""s signal input to the external image signal input terminal. Thus, the TV receiver displays the input image signal from the external image signal input terminal, supplying the user interface screen to the user.
The graphical display apparatus used for CAD (Computer Aided Design) also employs the user interface screen. Here, the host computer transmits figure definition instructions: combination and display position of basic elements (segments, arcs, characters, etc.), and attribution specification such as display allowance or disallowance. The graphical display apparatus interprets the figure definition instructions and then displays figures as per instructions on the screen. The definition of a figure composed of the same,basic elements can be given only by copying the definition of the element and changing the display position attribute. Thus, the figure definition instructions for one element is transmitted from the host computer only once, saving the information transmission time for the host computer. However, in case of a multi-layer structure such as a menu manipulation screen to switch a layer as per user""s instruction, the screen is cleared (the defined figure data are deleted) each time a layer is switched, and all the figure definition instructions are transmitted again for the switched layer. Alternately, the figure data for all the layers may be defined in advance, and an instruction is sent each time a layer is switched to disallow the display of the attribute of the figure data in the currently displayed layer, and another instruction is sent to allow the display of the figure data for the switched layer.
However, using the user interface screen with the household appliances such as the VTR causes the following problems:
(1) the user-interface-screen generation circuit must be furnished for each appliance, causing the manufacturing cost to increase. Thus, this technique is applied only to limited appliances.
(2) the image input for the TV receiver must be switched to the external image signal input. This is not a drawback for the VTR or TV game players activated by switching the image input to the external image signal input. However, it is quite inconvenient if functions for an air conditioner or the like are set in this manner. Although such inconvenience can be eliminated by furnishing the user interface screen to the air conditioner, it costs more than furnishing the user-interface-screen generation circuit.
(3) the appliances and TV receiver must be connected via the image signal cable. Since the image signal cable is an essential component for the VTR and TV game player, this is not crucial for such appliances. However, this is quite inconvenient if the appliances, which can be used independently of the image signal cable, are controlled in this manner. Although such inconvenience can be eliminated by furnishing the user interface screen, it costs more than furnishing the user interface-screen generation circuit as was with the secondly mentioned problem.
(4) the graphical display apparatus is connected to the host computer in the level of the basic elements to realize a variety of displays, thus many a figure definition instruction is received from the host computer when switching the display. This causes to increase the load in the host computer, and makes the real time transmission impossible if a high-transmission rate communication route is employed. More precisely, micro computers for the household appliances are less efficient compared with the one for host computer, and the transmission rate is set relatively low to save the transmission cost. Thus, it is not easy to display the graphical interactive screens on the graphical display apparatus using the display information.
Accordingly, the present invention has a first object to provide a remote controller which is easy to manipulate and does not hold the information of the appliances under the control thereof in advance, and thus uses resources such as a memory efficiently.
The present invention has a second object to provide a remote controller whose design can be changed flexibly depending on the state of the appliances under the control thereof.
The present invention has a third object to provide a remote controller which can synthesize the control menus for a plurality of appliances under the control thereof.
The present invention has a fourth object to provide a program receiver which can supply an adequate interactive screen for each program to the user.
The present invention has a fifth object to provide a graphical-interactive-screen display apparatus and the peripheral units which can display the user interface screens without using expensive user-interface-screen generation circuit, so that the user sets the functions for a desired appliance using such inexpensive user interface screens.
The first object can be fulfilled by a remote controller comprising a structure information supply unit for holding structure information for various types of appliances in advance, and a portable remote control unit for controlling the appliances, (1) the structure information supply unit including: a transmitter""s structure information storage unit for storing the structure information, the structure information including control information for each appliance and object information, the control information being used by the remote control unit in controlling the appliances, the object information representing manipulation objects forming a manipulation unit of the remote control unit; and a structure information transmission unit for retrieving the control information and the object information from the transmitter s structure information storage unit to send the retrieved information to the remote control unit, (2) the remote control unit including: a structure information receipt unit for receiving the control information and the object information from the structure information transmission unit; a receiver""s structure information storage unit for storing the control information and the object information received by the structure information receipt unit, a display unit for displaying a picture having a manipulation area used for manipulating the appliances; and a first display control unit for controlling the display unit to place the manipulation objects on the manipulation area based on the object information stored in the receiver""s structure information storage unit.
The remote control unit may further include: a manipulation detection unit for detecting which manipulation object is manipulated on the manipulation area; a first control signal transmission unit for transmitting a control signal assigned for the manipulation object detected by the manipulation detection unit to the appliances based on the control information stored in the receiver s structure information storage unit, whereby the appliances operate in accordance with the control signal from the remote control unit.
The structure information supply unit may be installed in each appliance controlled by the control signal from the remote control unit.
To fulfill the second object, in the remote controller, the structure information supply unit may further include:a structure information generation unit for generating state-based control information depending on an action state of each appliance, the state-based control information being transmitted to the remote control unit by the structure information transmission unit; an object information generation unit for generating the object information depending on the action state of each appliance, the object information being transmitted to the remote control unit by the structure information transmission unit, and the remote control unit may further include: a generated information receipt unit for receiving the state-based control information from the structure information transmission unit; a generated information update unit for updating the control information and the object information in the receiver""s structure information storage unit in accordance with the state-based control information received by the generated information receipt unit; a second control signal transmission unit for transmitting a control signal assigned to the manipulated object detected by the manipulation detection unit to the appliances based on updated control information stored in the receiver s structure information storage unit; a generated object information receipt unit for receiving updated object information from the structure information transmission unit; and a second display control unit for controlling the display unit to place updated manipulation objects on the manipulation area based on the updated object information received by the generated object information receipt unit.
The third object can be fulfilled by a synthesis apparatus including a plurality of appliances for synthesizing menu information withheld by each appliance, the menu information being hierarchical information: enabling a user to control the appliances interactively, (1) one of the plurality of appliances including: a first menu storage unit for storing first menu information, the first menu information being hierarchical information to be used to control the one appliance; a menu information receipt unit for receiving the menu information from the other appliances; a menu information synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information received by the menu information receipt unit and first menu information stored in the first menu information storage unit, resulting synthesized menu information being used as a menu-information selection menu at a highest position in a hierarchy; and a menu display unit for displaying the menu-information selection menu generated by the menu information synthesis unit, (2) each of the other appliances including: a menu storage unit for storing the menu information unique to each appliance, the menu information being hierarchical information to be used to control each appliance; and a menu transmission unit for transmitting the unique menu information in the menu storage unit to the one appliance.
The one appliance may further include a synthesis rule storage unit for storing rules regulating menu-information synthesis by the menu information synthesis unit, whereby the menu information synthesis unit synthesizes the menu information from the other appliances and the first menu information in accordance with the synthesis rules.
The menu transmission unit may include: a menu information retrieval direction unit for detecting a connection with the one appliance and for giving a direction to retrieve the menu information; a menu information retrieval unit for retrieving the menu information from the menu storage unit upon receipt of the direction from the menu information retrieval direction unit; and a menu transmission unit for transmitting the menu information retrieved by the menu information retrieval unit to the menu information receipt unit.
The menu information synthesis unit may include: a menu selection acceptance unit for accepting a selection of an appliance subject to control manipulation using the menu-information selection menu displayed by the menu display unit; a menu information retrieval unit for retrieving the menu information of the appliance accepted by the menu selection acceptance unit from the menu information synthesis unit; and a menu switch control unit for changing a display on the menu display unit in accordance with the menu information retrieved by the menu information retrieval unit.
The menu information synthesis unit may further include: a menu information temporarily storage unit for temporarily storing the menu information received by the menu information receipt unit; a first menu information retrieval unit for retrieving the first menu information from the first menu storage unit; a synthesis rule retrieval unit for retrieving the synthesis rules from the synthesis rule storage unit, the synthesis rules including a synthesis rule for a hierarchial structure, a selection rule for a displayed shape, a synthesis rule for a panel object, and a synthesis rule for control of the appliances; and a hierarchial structure synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information stored in the menu information temporarily storage unit and the first menu information retrieved by the first menu information retrieval unit in accordance with the hierarchical synthesis rule retrieved by the synthesis rule retrieval unit.
The menu information synthesis unit may further include: a menu information temporarily storage unit for temporarily storing the menu information received by the menu information receipt unit; a first menu information retrieval unit for retrieving the first menu information from the first menu storage unit; a synthesis rule retrieval unit for retrieving the synthesis rules from the synthesis rule storage unit, the synthesis rules including a synthesis rule for a hierarchial structure, a selection rule for a displayed shape, a synthesis rule for a panel object, and a synthesis rule for control of the appliances; and a hierarchial structure synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information stored in the menu information temporarily storage unit and the first menu information retrieved by the first menu information retrieval unit in accordance with the hierarchical synthesis rule retrieved by the synthesis rule retrieval unit.
The third object also can be fulfilled by in a remote control system comprising a plurality of appliances and a remote controller for transmitting control signals to the plurality of appliances, (1) the remote controller including: a menu information request transmission unit for transmitting a menu information request to each appliance, the menu information being hierarchial information unique to each appliance for enabling a user to control each appliance interactively; a menu receipt unit for receiving the menu information transmitted from each appliance; a menu information synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information received by the menu receipt unit; a menu display unit for visually displaying synthesized menu information generated by the menu information synthesis unit; an input manipulation unit for accepting a user""s input manipulation to control the appliances; and a control signal transmission unit for transmitting the control signals to the appliances based on the input manipulation accepted by the input manipulation unit, (2) each appliance including: a menu information request receipt unit for receiving the menu information request from the menu information request transmission unit; a menu information transmission unit for transmitting the menu information to the menu receipt unit when the menu information request receipt unit receives the menu information request; a control signal receipt unit for receiving the control signals from the control signal transmission unit; and a control unit for controlling the appliances as per control signals received by the control signal receipt unit.
The menu information synthesis unit may include: a menu information storage unit for storing the menu information of each appliance received by the menu receipt unit, the menu information being hierarchical information including a panel object name and shape information; a synthesis rule storage unit for storing synthesis rules regulating menu-information synthesis, the synthesis rules including a synthesis rule for a hierarchial structure, a synthesis rule for a panel object, a selection rule for a displayed shape, and a synthesis rule for control of the appliances; a menu synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information of the appliances stored in the menu information storage unit into one hierarchical structure in accordance with the hierarchical synthesis rules in the synthesis rule storage unit; a panel object synthesis unit for synthesizing the menu information of the appliances in the menu information storage unit into one panel object in accordance with the synthesis rule for the panel object stored in the synthesis rule storage unit, the synthesis rule for the panel object being to synthesize the menu information identified by an identical panel object name; a shape synthesis unit for making the shape information uniform for each appliance for the menu information in the menu information storage unit in accordance with the selection rule for the displayed shape in the synthesis rule storage unit, the selection rule being to select the shape information of a specified appliance and apply the same to the shape information for each appliance for the menu information in the menu information storage unit; and an action append unit for inserting data as to an control action in accordance with the synthesis rule for the control of the appliances, the synthesis rule for the control being to insert the data as to the control action described by the synthesis rule for the control at a position specified by the synthesis rule for the control.
The menu display unit may include: a bit map data conversion unit for converting the menu information synthesized by the menu synthesis unit, panel synthesis unit, shape synthesis unit, and action append unit into bit map data for a visual display; a display unit for displaying the menu information converted into the bit map data by the bit map data conversion unit; a first manipulation acceptance unit for accepting a user""s selection of menu displayed by the display unit; and a selected menu notice unit for notifying a menu selected and accepted by the first manipulation acceptance unit to the menu information synthesis unit.
The menu information synthesis unit may further include a menu information retrieval unit for retrieving the menu information from the menu storage unit for the appliance corresponding to the menu notified by the selected menu notice unit, retrieved menu information including information as to manipulation objects displayed by the display unit, and the menu display unit may further include: a menu information conversion unit for converting the menu information retrieved by the menu information retrieval unit into the bit map data, the menu information retrieved by the menu information retrieval unit including information as to a display of manipulation objects displayed by the display unit; a change-menu display control unit for controlling the display unit to display the menu information converted into the bit map data by the menu information conversion unit; a second manipulation acceptance unit for accepting a user""s control manipulation related to a control over the appliance using the manipulation objects displayed by the display unit; and a manipulation notice unit for notifying the control manipulation accepted by the second manipulation acceptance unit to the control signal transmission unit.
The fourth object can be fulfilled by a program receiver for displaying a graphical interactive picture by receiving a program transmitted from a program transmitter, the program receiver comprising: a storage unit for storing a plurality of basic picture elements in advance, the plurality of basic picture elements being figures composing the graphical interactive picture manipulated by a user; a signal receipt unit for receiving a signal transmitted from the program transmitter, the signal being a multiplex signal including a program and data specifying a structure of the graphical interactive picture; a signal separation unit for separating the signal received by the signal receipt unit into a program signal and a graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data signal; a first graphical interactive picture generation unit for generating the graphical interactive picture by combining the basic picture elements stored in the storage unit based on the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data signal from the signal separation unit; and a display unit for displaying the graphical interactive picture generated by the first graphical interactive picture generation unit.
The program receiver may further comprise: an interactive manipulation unit for inputting manipulation to the graphical interactive picture displayed by the display unit; a basic action storage unit for storing a content of an action for updating the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data; and a second graphical interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the content of the action from the basic action storage unit based on action information directing an update of the graphical interactive picture upon receipt of the input manipulation from the interactive manipulation unit to update the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data to generate an updated graphical interactive picture.
The basic picture elements in the storage unit may be composed of file names identifying each basic picture element and the bit map data for each basic picture element, and the first graphical interactive picture generation unit may include: a receipt.decode unit for receiving the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data signal from the signal separation unit to decode the same; a storage unit for storing decoded graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the receipt-decode unit, the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data being composed of a class definition including a plurality pieces of class attribute information, a panel object definition including a plurality pieces of panel object information, an action definition including a plurality pieces of action information, and a shape definition including a plurality pieces of shape information; a first process unit for retrieving the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the storage unit, extracting the basic picture elements corresponding to the file names by referring to the shape information from the storage unit in accordance with the retrieved graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data, and for placing the extracted basic picture elements by referring to the panel object information; and a first display control unit for controlling the display unit to display the basic picture elements placed by the first process unit as the graphical interactive picture.
The interactive manipulation unit may include: an input manipulation acceptance unit for accepting a user""s input manipulation to the graphical interactive picture; and an interactive signal transmission unit for transmitting the input manipulation accepted by the manipulation acceptance unit to the second graphical interactive picture generation unit as an interactive signal, and the second graphical interactive picture generation unit may include: an interactive signal receipt unit for receiving the interactive signal from the interactive signal transmission unit; an interactive signal interpretation unit for interpreting the interactive signal received by the interactive signal receipt unit; a graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data update unit for retrieving a content of an action from the basic action storage unit in accordance with the interactive signal interpreted by the interactive signal interpretation unit to update the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data in the storage unit; a second process unit for retrieving updated graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the storage unit, and for extracting the basic picture elements corresponding to the file names from the storage unit to place the extracted display elements; and a second display control unit for controlling the display unit to display the basic picture elements placed by the second process unit as an updated graphical interactive picture.
The program receiver may further comprise an information transmission unit for transmitting the data of the graphical interactive picture updated by the interactive manipulation unit to the program transmitter.
The basic picture elements in the storage unit may be composed of file names identifying each basic picture element and the bit map data for each basic picture element, and the first graphical interactive picture generation unit may include: a receipt-decode unit for receiving the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data signal from the signal separation unit to decode the same; a data division unit for dividing the decoded graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the receiptxc2x7decode unit into a first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data and a second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data, the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data excluding a synthesis instruction, the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data including the synthesis instruction, the graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data being composed of a panel object definition including a plurality pieces of panel object information, an action definition including a plurality pieces of action information, a shape definition including a plurality pieces of shape information, and synthesis direction data including a synthesis command in case of the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data; a first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit for storing the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data; a second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit for storing the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data; a graphical interactive picture synthesis unit for synthesizing the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data in the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit and the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data in the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit in accordance with the synthesis command of the synthesis direction data stored in the second graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit; a graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data update unit for updating the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data in the first graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit with the synthesized graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the graphical interactive picture synthesis unit; a first process unit for retrieving updated graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data from the first-graphical-interactive-picture-structure specification data storage unit, and for extracting the basic picture elements corresponding to the file names by referring to the shape information in the storage unit to place the extracted basic picture elements by referring to the panel object information; and a first display control unit for controlling the display unit to display the basic picture elements placed by the first process unit as an updated graphical interactive picture.
The program receiver may further comprise an information record unit for outputting data related to the graphical interactive picture as per manipulation form the interactive manipulation unit to make a record thereof.
The fifth object can be fulfilled by a system including peripheral appliances holding graphical interactive picture structure data and a display unit for displaying a graphical interactive picture for the peripheral appliances by receiving a unique manipulation direction signal from each peripheral appliance, the display unit including: a graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit for receiving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the peripheral appliances to generate the graphical interactive picture; a display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data received by the graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit; a graphical display element storage unit for storing a plurality of graphical display elements to generate the graphical interactive picture; a manipulation direction signal receipt unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal from the peripheral appliances; a graphical interactive picture generation unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal received by the manipulation direction signal receipt unit, and for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements stored in the graphical display element storage unit; and a display unit for displaying the graphical interactive picture generated by the graphical interactive picture generation unit.
The graphical interactive picture generation unit may include: a temporarily storage unit for temporarily storing the manipulation direction signal received by the manipulation direction signal receipt unit; a retrieval unit for retrieving the manipulation direction signal from the temporarily storage unit; a graphical interactive picture structure data extract unit for extracting the graphical interactive structure data from the display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit in accordance with the manipulation direction signal retrieved by the retrieval unit; to generate the graphical interactive picture, the graphical interactive picture structure data including object information defining objects that form the graphical interactive picture, shape information defining shapes of the objects, position information defining positions of thee objects, action information defining the objects"" actions that change the graphical interactive picture based on the manipulation direction signal; a graphical display element extract unit for extracting bit map data from the graphical display element storage unit based on the shape information extracted by the graphical interactive picture structure data extract unit, the bit map data being stored in the graphical display element storage unit in relation with the shape information; a synthesis generation unit for generating a graphical display by synthesizing the bit map data extracted by the graphical display element extract unit and an attribute value of a character string attribute of each object, the attribute value of the character string attribute displayed on the bit map data being included in the object information; a placement unit for placing the graphical display synthesized by the synthesis generation unit based on the position information in the graphical interactive picture structure data.
The graphical interactive picture generation unit may further include a graphical interactive picture structure data update unit for updating a content of the graphical interactive picture structure data in the display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit based on the action information extracted by the graphical interactive picture structure data extract unit when the manipulation direction signal retrieved by the retrieval unit is an update direction.
The display unit may further include: a TV receiver unit for converting a received program into an image; a TV manipulation unit for accepting a manual manipulation to the TV receiver unit; a TV""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data related to the TV receiver unit in advance; and a TV""s interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the TV""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit when the TV manipulation unit receives the manual manipulation to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements in the graphical display element storage unit to update the graphical interactive picture each time a manual manipulation is received by the TV manipulation unit.
Each peripheral appliance may include: a manipulation unit for accepting a user""s action direction addressed to a self""s peripheral appliance; a user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data to display the graphical interactive picture as per action direction accepted by the manipulation unit; a control unit for controlling the self""s peripheral appliance to set a function by giving a direction to transmit the graphical interactive picture structure data and generating a manipulation direction signal to generate the graphical interactive picture and a manipulation direction signal to updated graphical interactive picture upon acceptance of the action direction from the manipulation unit; a graphical interactive picture structure data transmission unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the transmission direction from the control unit, and for transmitting the retrieved graphical interactive picture structure data to the display unit; and a manipulation direction signal transmission unit for transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the control unit to the display unit.
The control unit may include: a first signal generation unit for generating the manipulation direction signal as per action direction from the manipulation unit; and a second signal generation unit for generating a predetermined subsidiary data signal depending on current action state of the self""s peripheral appliance, the subsidiary data being a supplement of the graphical interactive picture structure data and constituting an integral part thereof, the subsidiary data signal being generated by the first signal generation unit together with the manipulation direction signal.
The manipulation unit may be portable.
The fifth object also can be fulfilled by a system comprising: a remote controller for controlling peripheral appliances and a display unit for displaying a graphical interactive picture as per manipulation direction signal from the remote controller, (1) the remote controller including: a manipulation unit for accepting an action direction addressed to the remote controller; a control unit for controlling the remote controller to set a function upon acceptance of the action direction from the manipulation unit and for generating a manipulation direction signal to generate the graphical interactive picture and a manipulation direction signal to update the graphical interactive picture; a manipulation direction signal transmission unit for; transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the control unit to the display unit, (2) the display unit including: an appliance""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data in advance to generate the graphical interactive picture for the peripheral appliances; a graphical display element storage unit for storing a plurality of graphical display elements to generate the graphical interactive picture; a manipulation direction signal receipt unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal from the remote controller; a graphical interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the appliance""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the manipulation direction signal received by the manipulation direction signal receipt unit to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements stored in the graphical display element storage unit based on the retrieved graphical interactive picture structure data; a display unit for displaying the graphical interactive picture generated by the graphical interactive picture generation unit; a TV receiver unit for converting a received TV program into an image; a TV manipulation unit for accepting a manual manipulation to the TV receiver unit; a TV""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data as to the TV receiver unit in advance; a TV""s graphical interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the TV""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit when the TV manipulation unit receives the manual manipulation to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements stored in the graphical display element storage unit based on the retrieved graphical interactive picture structure data to update the graphical interactive picture each time the TV manipulation unit receives a manual manipulation.
The fifth object can be fulfilled by a system comprising a relay, a remote controller, and a display unit, the relay being a peripheral appliance for transferring an action direction signal from the remote controller to the display unit, the relay""s function being set by the remote controller, the display unit displaying a graphical interactive picture upon receipt of the signal from the relay, (1) the remote controller including: a first manipulation unit for accepting an action of the remote controller; a first graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing graphical interactive picture structure data in advance to generate the graphical interactive picture as per action direction; a first control unit for controlling the remote controller to set a function upon receipt of the action direction from the first manipulation Unit by giving a direction to transmit the graphical interactive picture structure data and generating a manipulation direction signal to generate the graphical interactive, picture and a manipulation direction signal to update the graphical interactive picture; a first graphical interactive picture structure data transmission unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the first graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the transmission direction from the first control unit to transmit the same to the relay; and a first manipulation direction signal transmission unit for transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the first control unit to the relay, (2) the relay including: a second manipulation unit for accepting an action direction addressed to the relay; a user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data in advance to generate the graphical interactive picture as per action direction addressed to the relay; a second control unit for controlling the relay to set a function upon receipt of the action direction from the second manipulation unit by giving a direction to transmit the graphical interactive picture structure data and generating a manipulation direction signal to generate the graphical interactive picture and a manipulation direction signal to update the graphical interactive picture; a graphical interactive picture structure data transmission unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the transmission direction from the second control unit to transmit the same to the display unit; a second manipulation direction signal transmission unit for transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the second control unit to the display unit; a data relay unit for receiving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the first graphical interactive picture structure data transmission unit to transmit the same to the display unit; and a signal relay unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal from the first manipulation direction signal transmission unit to transmit the same to the display unit, (3) the display unit including: a graphical display element storage unit for storing a plurality of graphical display elements to generate the graphical interactive picture; a graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit for receiving the graphical interactive picture structure data to generate the graphical interactive picture from the relay; a display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data received by the graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit; a manipulation direction signal receipt unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal from the relay; a graphical interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the manipulation direction signal received by the manipulation direction signal receipt unit to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements stored in the graphical display element storage unit based on the retrieved graphical interactive picture structure data, and for updating the graphical interactive picture each time the manipulation direction signal receipt unit receives a manipulation direction signal; and a display unit for displaying the graphical interactive picture generated by the graphical interactive picture generation unit.
The fifth object also can be fulfilled by a system comprising a relay, a remote controller, and a display unit, the relay being a peripheral appliance for transferring an action direction signal from the remote controller to the display unit, the relay""s function being set by the remote controller, the display unit displaying a graphical interactive picture upon receipt of the signal from the relay, (1) the remote controller including: a first manipulation unit for accepting an action direction addressed to the remote controller; a first control unit for controlling the remote controller to set a function by giving a direction to transmit graphical interactive picture structure data to the relay and generating a manipulation direction signal to generate a graphical interactive picture and to update the graphical interactive picture; and a first manipulation direction signal transmission unit for transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the first control unit to the relay, (2) the relay including: a second manipulation unit for accepting an action direction addressed to the relay; a user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data in advance to display the graphical interactive picture as per action direction addressed to the relay; a first graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing in advance the graphical interactive picture structure data to display the graphical interactive picture as per graphical-interactive-picture-structure data transmission direction from the remote controller; a second control unit for controlling the relay to set a function upon receipt of the action direction from the second manipulation unit by giving a direction to transmit the graphical interactive picture structure data and generating a manipulation direction signal to generate the graphical interactive picture and to update the graphical interactive picture; a graphical interactive picture structure data transmission unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the user""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit and the first graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the transmission direction from the second control unit and the remote controller respectively to transmit the same to the display unit; a second manipulation direction signal transmission unit for transmitting the manipulation direction signal generated by the second control unit to the display unit; and a signal relay unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal received by the remote control unit to transmit the same to the display unit, (3) the display unit including: a graphical display element storage unit for storing a plurality of graphical display elements to generate the graphical interactive picture; a graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit for receiving the graphical interactive picture structure data to generate the graphical interactive picture from the relay; a display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit for storing the graphical interactive picture structure data received by the graphical interactive picture structure data receipt unit; a manipulation direction signal receipt unit for receiving the manipulation direction signal from the relay; a graphical interactive picture generation unit for retrieving the graphical interactive picture structure data from the display""s graphical interactive picture structure data storage unit upon receipt of the manipulation direction signal received by the manipulation direction signal receipt unit to generate the graphical interactive picture by combining the graphical display elements stored in the graphical display elements based on the manipulation direction, and for updating the graphical interactive picture each time the manipulation direction signal receipt unit receives a manipulation direction signal; and a display unit for displaying the graphical interactive picture generated by the graphical interactive picture generation unit.